Detroit based law firm Butzel Long PC, one of the oldest law firms in Michigan, has asked the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. to takeover its pension obligations.

The firm has lost more than a hundred lawyers since 2009, according to Crain's Detroit Business which quoted the firm's president and managing partner Justin Klimko as saying that the firm took the step because it's more than 450 pension obligations threatened the future of the firm's operations.

Klimko further told Crain's that almost 350 participants that had enrolled in the firm's pension plan no longer work with the firm and the pension fund is now millions of dollars underfunded due to the recession and low interest rates in the markets. The firm had already frozen its pension plan for new attorneys since 2004 and for all new employees since 2007.

Klimko has also stated that the firm is in no danger of going out of business. But the firm has undertaken some steps to reduce its operating costs. It has already moved into a smaller office space at its Ann Arbor office, renegotiated its lease for its headquarters in Bloomfield Hills in Detroit and is trying to do the same with its NYC office.

Search Jobs Direct from Employer Career Pages

Keywords:

Location:

Law School Profile sponsored by LawCrossing

The University of Michigan Ann Arbor School of Law or the Michigan School of Law as it is popularly known is one of the oldest law schools of the U.S. and it consistently ranks among the top 10 law schools of the U.S. in rankings published by different sources and organizations. Michigan Law School is considered to have one of the best campuses and collegiate environment among U.S. law schools.